Qassem Says Palestinians Must Liberate Entire Palestine after Hamas Eases Stance

Hizbullah deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem announced Tuesday that “any resistance not aimed at liberating Palestine from the sea to the river cannot be of use,” a day after the Palestinian movement Hamas unveiled a new policy document easing its stance on Israel after having called for years for its destruction.

“We are not with a resistance that paves the way for a settlement and we are not with a resistance that splits Palestine into two states,” Qassem said during a meeting with the Global Campaign to Return to Palestine, in an apparent jab at Hamas.

“We are with a resistance that only accepts a fully liberated land so that Palestinians can return to their land in dignity and pride,” Hizbullah number two added.

“We are with the resistance in Palestine and we are with the resistance for the sake of Palestine. Resistance in Palestine does not have one form; resistance in Palestine is taking place through words, prayer, writing, captivity, protests, gunfire, car ramming attacks and stabbings. These are all forms of resistance in Palestine,” Qassem went on to say.

Hamas exiled leader Khaled Meshaal said on Monday: "We in Hamas believe that renewal and reinvention is a necessity."

While the new document does not amount to recognition of Israel as demanded by the international community, Hamas officials say, it formally softens its stance in a few key areas.

Hamas leaders have long spoken of the more limited aim of a Palestinian state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip without explicitly setting this out in their charter.

But after years of internal debate, the new document formally accepts the idea of a state in the territories occupied by Israel in the Six-Day War of 1967.

It also says its struggle is not against Jews because of their religion but against Israel as an occupier.

However, the original 1988 charter will not be dropped, just supplemented, in a move some analysts see as a way of maintaining the backing of hardliners.

The new document also continues to speak of liberating historic Palestine, including areas that are today part of Israel.

Hamas is considered a “terrorist group” by Israel, the United States and the European Union, and the new document is aimed in part at easing its international isolation.

One Hamas leader, Ahmed Youssef, told AFP the updated charter was "more moderate, more measured and would help protect us against accusations of racism, anti-Semitism and breaches of international law."

Israel was not convinced, however, with a spokesman for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying "Hamas is attempting to fool the world, but it will not succeed."